ZTE Australia announces the Axon 7 is now cheaper and Daydream ready with Android 7.1.1 update rolling out

ZTE Australia has today announced that their flagship handset, the Axon 7, has today received a price drop of $100, as well as announcing that the long awaited update to Android 7.1.1 is now available.

The price drop will be available from today on ZTE Axon 7 handsets purchased at JB HiFi, with both the Gold and Grey versions of the handset now available for just $599. Though they’ve announced the Daydream ready software update for the Axon 7 is now available, handsets from JB HiFi will still come with Marshmallow out of the box.

The update to Android 7.1.1 has been slowly progressing, but is now available for all Australian ZTE Axon 7 owners. The process requires a manual process to bridge the phones Marshmallow build with the Daydream ready Android 7.1.1 update. It’s a two step process, which we’ve outlined here:

Firstly, users will need to update the Firmware to B10. This can be done by first downloading this ZIP file from the ZTE website. Once this is complete, you will then need to download the Nougat upgrade following these steps:

Extract the ZIP file and you will find a folder with the update.zip file and a pdf instruction (I ignore the instructions in this case as the process is very simple and listed below).

Rename the update.zip file to “AndroidNupdate.zip” or something of your choosing as you can then have both the B10 and Android N version on your microSD Card and update other family or friends AXON 7’s to the latest Android firmware easily.

Copy the “AndroidNupdate.zip” file to the root of a MicroSD card – You can do this with the MicroSD card in the handset and Media device MTP USB mode and your AXON 7 USB cable.

Once the file is copied to the root of the MicroSD card disconnect the handset from the PC and go to Settings / System update.

It will check for the file and see it on the MicroSD card and then you click install and the second install button that is counting down.

The handset will now do the update and reboot once. In a couple of minutes it will finish and shutdown the handset. Once the handset has shutdown, wait 10 seconds and switch it back on as normal and the handset will finish the update of the apps for the OS and install Google Duo and display the unlock screen – unlock and there will be a notification box saying “update success or complete” and then you can factory default it if you want to start from the wizard again or just start using it.

Daniel Zhao, Managing Director for ZTE Australia said of the Nougat update:

We are committed to delivering uncompromised quality and leading edge technology. We are particularly excited to pair Daydream with the Axon 7’s dual front facing speakers, the sound produced by these devices is truly remarkable and we believe is unmatched by any other smartphone brand.

If you’re a ZTE Axon 7 owner, this is a pretty big deal, time to start checking out Daydream headsets, which you can get at either JB Hifi or online through the Google Store.

Daniel Tyson Editor

Dan is a die-hard Android fan. Some might even call him a lunatic. He's been an Android user since Android was a thing, and if there's a phone that's run Android, chances are he owns it (his Nexus collection is second-to-none) or has used it.

Dan's dedication to Ausdroid is without question, and he has represented us at some of the biggest international events in our industry including Google I/O, Mobile World Congress, CES and IFA.

The update process to Nougat is a little ridiculous and I see no one but geeks [I’m one of them] applying such updates.

Is there any reason why ZTE can’t do OTA updates? Definitely not a phone for the average Joe and can’t be recommended if this is how ZTE push out updates.

Oppo has done the same with the F1s, R9 and R9 Plus, pushing out Marshmallow via a destructive manual update wiping the phone in the process and causing many headaches for its users. Is is a Chinese thing? :/

It isn’t the easiest update method, but at the same time, it beats mashing the update button and waiting for an OTA which may or may not be there. Just download the zip file, throw it on your device, and apply. Not super easy, but not too hard.

The phone is too large for the Daydream Viewer shown. It significantly reduces the amount of the content that you can see and worst of all, the latching strap perfectly depresses the Axon 7 power button rendering it useless. ZTE or Google needs to make a version of that viewer the fits the 5.5″ phone.

Hi Chris, I have been using my Daydream headset for months with the AXON 7 during all the testing of the Nougat firmware’s as we got it ready for release in Australia. We even had 20 beta testers using it for several months of updates as we fixed issues both reported and found in our labs and test teams globally. The Trick with using the Daydream headset is to position the power button between the elastics of the latch. Sounds fiddly but it is quick to do and works. As for the SD card updates rather then FOTA, it is… Read more »